Spools for storing and transporting flexible materials are known. The spools typically include a barrel portion and end flanges defining a space for winding receipt of a length of the flexible material. Spools for optical media are also known as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,172 to Pierro et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.
When a length of flexible material is wound onto a spool, the portion of the material that is first received on the barrel becomes covered by subsequently wound portions of the material. For optical media such as optical fiber, however, it is desirable to provide access to both ends of the material for integrity testing to determine if kinks or other defects would impair the ability of the length of optical fiber to transmit light.
To provide access to both ends of a length of optical fiber, an end portion of the fiber adjacent the first wound portion is led away from the barrel to a more easily accessed location. Care must be taken, however, when directing the end portion of the fiber that the fiber is not damaged or that sharp bends are not introduced that could be mistaken for actual damage of the fiber during the integrity testing of the material.